An Overdue Confession
by Korrallaries
Summary: Katie Bell was always able to get under Oliver Wood's skin a bit more than anybody else. But Oliver never expected her to get him to abandon practice the day before their most important game of the season, especially as she lay unconscious at St. Mungo's.


**EDIT 1/27/13: Hey guys! Just wanted to clarify about something I've gotten a surprising number of messages in the almost three years (oh my gosh has it been that long?) since I've posted this story. So just to be clear, this fic is book compliant and not movie compliant, and Katie's hair color was never described in the books. In the first three movies, she was portrayed by an actress with blonde hair, and in the last three movies an actress with brown hair. In my mind Katie has always had blonde hair, but feel free to imagine it differently. Brown, black, maybe blue! Maybe for my next fic I'll write her with blue hair :)  
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**Anyway, I hope you enjoy my short attempt at a Katie/Oliver one shot!  
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If there was one person in the world who could persuade Oliver Wood to do practically anything, it was Katie Bell.

When she was just a scrawny eleven year old and he was _supposed _to be a strict Quidditch captain she managed to get him to give her piggy back rides back from the pitch every evening after practice. She weighed little more than a toothpick back then, and would shake her blonde pig-tail braids back and forth as she laughed and egged him on back to the castle. The baby of the team, Oliver always let her get under his skin just a little bit more than the rest, but he hardly thought twice of it.

By her second year she was able to convince him to change around the schedule to include fewer dawn practices due to her "sleep condition" that required her to only wake up when the sun was actually shining in the sky. The entire team, even the usually oblivious Oliver, knew that her condition was a farce, but Oliver let her persuade him anyway. By her third year she was throwing teasing remarks his direction that, when he would have bristled had they come from anyone else's mouth, he let roll off his back.

She, more than anyone else, was able to get him to wind down on his rants about new plays in the common room. She was the only one who managed to get him to leave his room after they lost the Cup his 6th year due to the absence of their seeker. With bright smile and an almost mischevious twinkle in her blue eyes she would always say the same thing. They would win next time, there was always another chance. And with Katie in the room, it was nearly impossible to not be optimistic.

Even now, with Oliver as the youngest starting Keeper on the Puddlemore United Quidditch team at only twenty years old, Katie could still persuade him to her will. She wrote him relentlessly, about school, Quidditch and occasionally about her personal life. When these letters arrived he had no choice but to write her back immediately, and to attach a few dozen chocolate frogs if she mentioned she'd been craving sweets. Or a Puddlemore United shirt if she slipped in that she didn't have any paraphernalia of her "favorite Quidditch player's team."

But the one thing Oliver never expected was for Katie to manage to get him to leave practice a week before their biggest game of the year without even saying a word to his coach. Especially not as she lay unconscious in a bed in St. Mungo's.

It had been Angelina who sent the owl. She must have told it to find Oliver no matter what, because as he had been hovering around the hoops on the Quidditch pitch early that morning for practice, he was disturbed by a tapping on his shoulder. The owl was relentless, and wouldn't leave until he not only accepted the letter but also read its contents.

Once he read it, he didn't have to think twice.

_Oliver,_

_Katie's been cursed and she's in St. Mungo's. We don't know if she's going to make it. Please come see her, I know she would have wanted you here—_

_-Angelina_

And that's how, on a Tuesday morning, Oliver Wood ended up sitting in a particularly uncomfortable chair next to a hospital bed, wringing his hands together over and over.

"Would you care for a cup of tea, sir?" A young healer asked politely. Oliver shook his head, his eyes not leaving the girl lying in front of him. Her skin was several shades paler than it should have been, but she looked as if she was just sleeping. Her hair was spread around her head, and when the sun caught it just right the gold color shined almost like a halo.

She had been beautiful when he had graduated, but now at eighteen she was radiant. Even if he hadn't been more worried than he had ever been in his life, Oliver wouldn't have been able to keep his eyes off her.

She lay with her arms by her sides on the hospital bed, still in her school uniform. Somebody, he was guessing Alicia, must have straightened it up for her since her normally sloppy tie and unbuttoned collared shirt looked perfect. There was a single window across from Oliver on the other side of the bed, but no other furnishings in the room besides the bed and the chair.

Resigning himself to the fact that she wasn't going to magically realize he was in the room and wake up, he scooted the chair closer to the bed and took one of her cold hands in his own.

"Katie." He heard the healer cough politely and leave the room. The fuss Oliver caused in his urgency to visit Katie probably caused the hospital to think they were romantically involved, which he didn't have the heart to correct.

"Katie," he began again. What was he supposed to say? Tell her about his life, or lack thereof? Talk about their old days at Hogwarts? Give her a blow-by-blow account of his last game? Proclaim his undying love for her?

Well that _last _one was certainly out.

Oliver was pretty sure Katie would wake up from her cursed trance if he tried to give her a play through of his last game, if only to smack him upside the head. His gaze settling on her closed eyes and even breathing, he decided maybe her waking up to pommel him wouldn't be so bad after all.

"You can't imagine the last game we had, Katie, it was amazing." Oliver put on a weak smile, hoping the effort would lighten his voice despite the tightness in his chest. "We were against the Tutshill Tornadoes, you know how dirty they like to play. They kept aiming their bludgers at me, even when they weren't trying to score. One time I nearly had to jump off my broom to catch the quaffle! But we won, Katie, we won by only twenty points. That means we're in the running for the World Cup! Can you imagine?"

Oliver smiled down at the blonde in front of him, but she didn't move. He sighed. "You know, if you don't stop me, I'm going to tell you about each and every goal I've saved over the past year. And I _know _you don't want that!"

When she still didn't stir, Oliver hung his head in resignation. "What am I supposed to do to get you to wake up, Katie? The healers say they don't know if you'll ever regain consciousness,that your body may not be strong enough to fight off the curse. Funny, right? Obviously they don't know you very well, you're the strongest girl I know." He unconsciously rubbed his thumb over her cold fingers, which were still clutched tightly in his own.

"Remember my fifth year, when Fred and George tried to tackle you to the ground and tickle you? You stole George's beaters bat and ending up making them run the other direction in terror!" Oliver chuckled at the memory, and squeezed her hand again. The words were coming easier now. "You never were like any of the other girls on the team, you managed to pull of mischievous and innocent all at the same time. And don't try to argue with me, I know what trouble you got into! Even if you managed to get out of it with your wide-eyed puppy dog face."

"Remember the Halloween Feast my sixth year? When you charmed your eyes red and your teeth to be pointy and convinced Alicia you were bitten by a vampire? You even made your skin almost white!" Oliver's breath caught in his throat when he realized she was nearly that pale now.

"I don't think…" Oliver forced himself to continue. "I don't think you realize how much the team relied on you, how much _I _relied on you. You were always the optimistic cheerful one, and you kept the team from murdering each other on way too many occasions. You kept _me _from drowning myself in the showers my last year, do you remember that?" Oliver smiled now. "I was always so focused, so _obsessed_, with Quidditch that I thought after that one loss, 'this is it. It's over.' I never even paused to think that there was more to life after the Quidditch game until suddenly the cold water stopped hitting me, because you were standing there, hands on hips, between me and the shower head. You turned off the water, forced me to change out of my soaking gear, dragged me up back to the castle, and somehow between all of that it dawned on me that Quidditch _wasn't _all there was to life. There were classes, there were my friends, and there was _you_." He grinned ruefully. "Maybe it was seeing you soaking wet from head to toe in front of me, but after that day I couldn't get my mind off of _you._"

Oliver half expected, half hoped, for a slap on the back of the head for that last comment, but Katie remained as comatose as ever. Was it just him or were her hands less cold? Oliver sighed. No, her hands were only warmer since he'd been warming them up with his own. She couldn't hear a word he said, but that didn't stop the words from pouring out of his mouth now that he had begun.

"It was hard, at first, not being obsessed with Quidditch. Well, that's not true, this is me, I will _always _be obsessed with Quidditch. As will you, Kates. Don't deny it, I know you are too." Oliver bit the inside of his lip, steering himself back to his original topics. "What I mean to say, is I'm a very focused person. Once Quidditch didn't occupy every waking moment of my mind I needed something else to focus on. I mean, Quidditch was always first—well, not _always_—but suddenly it wasn't everything, you know? I put some of my extra time into school, and some of it into actually hanging out with my friends without dragging a playbook along. But the one thing I managed to obsess about besides Quidditch was, well, you.

"At first I was obsessed with trying to convince myself my feelings towards you were only those of a good friend. That you were a fourth year and I a seventh and thus anything I felt for you _had _to be merely platonic. Tried to convince myself that I didn't look forward to seeing your smiling face at practice more than anything else in the world, that the euphoric feeling I felt whenever I was the center of your attention was really just my imagination. That I couldn't keep my eyes off of you during practice only because I was critiquing your technique, even though I knew you were just as good as Angelina."

Oliver sighed, subconsciously running a hand through his short brown hair. "After the point that I couldn't keep lying to myself, I changed obsessions. I obsessed over our ages, I kept trying to convince myself that it wasn't wrong for me to like a girl only in her fourth year. That, since your birthday is in the fall and mine is in the summer we're actually only a little more than two years apart, not three. I obsessed over whether or not it'd be okay to date somebody on the team, even though I made it clear that I looked down upon relationships within the team. I thought about how hypocritical I'd be, but then about how much I didn't really care.

"When it became clear that I was going to graduate before ever having the guts to tell you how I felt, I obsessed over how I was going to live without you after Hogwarts. I tried to tell myself that I'd forget about you once I graduated, even though I knew that would be a lie. I figured I'd at least find it easier to move on if I didn't see you every day, but that didn't turn out to be quite the case. I mean, I didn't think about you as much once I started training with Puddlemore, but I didn't think about any _other _girl either."

Oliver paused as a healer clamored down the hallway pushing some sort of cart. When the room was relatively silent again, he continued. "But then your first letter came, Kates, and I knew I was such a goner. Every time I got one of your letters I felt like I had just won a huge match. And even though there was never quite enough in those letters about _you_, just classes and Quidditch, I still felt honored to be in such close contact."

When Katie didn't show even a remote sign of movement, something inside Oliver snapped. "Bloody hell, Katie, what do you want me to do?" He sprung up off the chair, which tumbled over backwards with a large thud. Unable to remain stationary any longer, he started pacing back and forth at the foot of her bed. He knew it wasn't her fault that she couldn't fight off the curse, but it still stung that his words hadn't moved her at all.

"Come on Kates, I pretty much poured my heart and soul out to you there! What else can I do? Tell you how my heart just about stopped when I got that letter from Angelina? Tell you how I might very well be getting kicked off the team for ditching practice the minute I found out you were sick? Tell you how I pretty much bit the head off of the poor nurse at the front desk in my hurry to find you? Tell you how terrified I am that you might never wake up? That I don't know what I'd do if…" Oliver dropped his voice and stopped pacing. With a resigned sigh he sat on the side of her bed and reached out, tentatively tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. He pulled her hand into his own again and lowered his head. "I don't know what I'd do if I never got a chance to tell you that I love you."

Oliver let out a long breath and closed his eyes, his head still hung over Katie's hospital bed. For what seemed like hours he listened to nothing else besides his slow breathing and the occasional clamor of a healer bustling about outside the door. He was so focused on his own thoughts that he didn't notice the first time Katie twitched.

He did, however, notice the second time.

"Kates?" Oliver started, unsure of whether or not he was just imagining her movement. He raised his head and dropped her hand, leaning over on the hospital bed. "Kates, can you hear me?"

When she didn't move, Oliver nearly cried out in frustration. Katie was always the light hearted optimistic one on the team, she wasn't supposed to be lying in a hospital bed for the rest of her life due to some dark magic!

Oliver studied her face, trying to find any signs of dark magic still left on her person. She was still sleeping, but no longer looked very peaceful. He could almost see a crease between her eyebrows and a slight flush was gracing her cheekbones. She still looked beautiful, with dark blonde hair and red, moving lips.

Wait, moving lips?

Oliver stilled his breathing, trying to make out the words Katie was trying to form. He placed a hand on her shoulder, careful not to squeeze too hard and hurt her, and leaned closer to hear her better.

"Leave…no…let…" Katie's mumbling wasn't making much sense. Oliver noticed that she had started moving her arms and she turned her head to one side as she started to speak again.

"No! Let me go!" Oliver jumped back as Katie started thrashing about more violently. She shook her head side to side and her fists gripped the fabric on her bed until her knuckles turned white. Her breathing was ragged and her voice was heartbreakingly strained. "Leave me alone!"

Oliver rushed over and gripped her shoulders, no longer worried about being gentle. "Katie! Snap out of it!"

Katie cried out, as if in pain. Her eyes were still shut, but her movements became more violent and erratic. Oliver wondered briefly if he should go call for a healer, but he was too worried about leaving Katie alone in her current state. When she cried out again, he pulled her up against him in a desperate embrace and cradled her head against his shoulder, his hand curled in her hair. "You have to fight this off Katie. I know you're strong enough Katie, fight it!"

Katie fought against him, trying to break out of his arms. Her arms pounded against his chest as she kept repeating, "Let me go! Let me go!"

Maybe it was his earlier confession, or maybe it was hearing Katie cry out against some invisible dark magic that kept haunting her, but something angry, something fiercely protective and possessive burned in Oliver's chest. He pulled her as close to him as he possible could and growled, "You can't have her. She's mine!"

He stayed like that for several long moments before realizing that Katie was no longer fighting him. He slowly lowered back down to the bed and put a hand on her cheek, trying to convince himself that she was still alive. Suddenly, she took one long breath and opened her eyes. "Oliver?"

Blue eyes. A puzzled expression. The closeness of their faces startled him and he sprung back. "Katie! You're awake!" He awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. "You…really had me worried for a while."

She frowned in confusion and put both her hands down, struggling to sit up. Oliver rushed forward to help her, wrapping a hand around her arm and supporting her back with the other. She flushed, but from the effort or from their proximity Oliver wasn't sure. She stared at him for a long while before speaking.

"I heard you."

Oliver blanched, memories of his confession ringing in his ears. "Beg pardon?"

She closed her eyes and shook her head from side to side, causing some of her hair to fall in her eyes. "When I was fighting those…things. I heard you." She opened her eyes again and Oliver was surprised at how bright they were. "All the time I was out of it I kept hearing murmuring, voices. I knew people were trying to talk to me, but I couldn't make out what they were trying to say, I was too far away. I kept fighting and fighting to try and get closer to them, running to try and hear them, but I was always dragged back by these claws, these monsters. I couldn't fight them, not by myself. But then you were there, and you told them that they couldn't have me. That I was yours." She paused and tilted her head, her eyes never leaving Oliver's. "What did that mean?"

Oliver furiously tried to fight the flush that threatened to take over his face. It had sounded fitting to say at the time, but after the fact it just sounded stupid. How was he supposed the explain himself? He decided that stalling was the best tactic. "You kind of dropped in during the middle of the story then. You really didn't hear any of the things I said before that?"

Katie shook her head. "You were the first clear voice I heard. Hearing you, I was able to…hold on to that, I think. Your voice. I clung to that and was able to break free of whatever magic I was under." She smiled then, finding his hands and squeezing them lightly with hers. "You saved the day again, Oliver Wood." This time Oliver really did blush and she chuckled. "What exactly did you say that I missed?"

Oliver wasn't sure if it was relief at her being awake or elation at hearing her say that he was the one who saved her, but he was filled with a sudden sense of confidence and bravery that he didn't usually carry off the Quidditch pitch. So right there, on a hospital bed in the middle of St. Mungo's, Oliver leaned forward and kissed Katie Bell soundly on the lips.

Katie's lips were soft on his as Oliver put his hand on the back of her head and absentmindedly stroked her hair. When he pulled away she blinked and stared at him, her mouth open in surprise.

His courage gone as suddenly as it appeared, Oliver pulled his hands back and bit his lip in embarrassment. "That was…the gist of it, I guess." He could feel his cheeks heating up again, but ignored it, figuring that now that he had kissed her there was nothing to lose in telling the truth. "I told you how much I missed you, and how I would never forgive myself if I never got to tell you that I love you."

When Katie didn't respond, he pulled back further. "I'm sorry to have surprised you like that. I guess I'll go get a heal-" Oliver never had a chance to finish that sentence, as Katie had launched herself from her position on the bed and latched her lips against his in an embrace so passionate that he completely forgot she had been in a coma just moments earlier. Only years of training as a Keeper allowed Oliver to catch her and stay upright instead of having them both topple of the bed.

"I thought…was crazy…you would never feel the same way," Katie breathed between kisses, her breath hot on his face. She leaned her forehead against his and stared unashamedly into his eyes. "I gave up hoping when you didn't come visit after you graduated. I thought I'd never see you again."

Oliver felt a pang of guilt at her words. "I was so busy, and every time I thought of you I got so distracted. Writing you letters was hard enough, I didn't know how I could handle seeing you without being able to hold you." Oliver kissed her again, relishing the sweet taste of cherry chapstick Alicia had undoubtedly put on Katie while she was asleep. "If I had known there was even a chance of you feeling the same way, I would have told you sooner."

She hummed, a deep sound in the back of her throat. Her hands worked her way up into his hair and pulled his face down towards hers. "Took you long enough, Wood."

He smirked, keeping just enough distance between them for her to see. "Watch it, Bell, or I'll make you do laps."

"You're not my captain any more, Wood. I could kick your scrawny Scottish bum any day."

Oliver raised an eyebrow. "You want to test that theory?"

Katie laughed, her eyes lighting up in a way that made Oliver's heart flip over. "Merlin," she smiled. "Have I missed you."

That was all the incentive Oliver needed to wrap his arms around her waist and pull her against him, kissing her again. He let out a quiet moan of pleasure when her hands in his hair started massaging his scalp, and she let out a squeak of surprise when playfully bit at her bottom lip.

Somewhere in the middle of their heated embrace, Oliver found himself on top of a supine Katie, with one arm on either side of her to keep from crushing her. Her hair was spread out across the pillows as he couldn't keep his hands off of it. Oliver could have kicked himself for not having the courage to tell her earlier; they would have been doing _this _for the past two years! He probably _would_ have kicked himself, if it didn't mean he had to stop kissing Katie.

"Miss Bell! Err...you're awake!"

The startled exclamation that Oliver belatedly realized came from a healer penetrated whatever romantic moment that had existed in the hospital room. Oliver carefully climbed off of Katie, who, he was pleased to see, was red as a tomato. He stood up and faced the healer, who was pointedly looking at the wall as he tapped on his clipboard impatiently.

"Miss Bell," he said, "We need to do some final tests to make sure the curse has completely left your system before we can discharge you. I'm afraid we're going to have to ask your…visitor…to leave."

Oliver chuckled. "Alright, I'll go. Katie, I need to go tell my coach why I disappeared in the middle of practice. I'll be back after that." He was at the door before he turned back and smiled. "I love you."

Katie blinked before smiling back at him. "I love you, too."

Oliver was out the door when he heard the scolding voice of the healer drift down the hallway. "Miss Bell, I really must insist you don't engage yourself in such…strenuous…activities this early in your recovery! You need your rest!"

Oliver chuckled to himself as he realized he would probably never live this moment down. And yet, as he walked out the front doors of St. Mungo's into the sunlight, back towards the inevitable scolding of an enraged coach, he found that he couldn't care less.

And that, possibly, was the best thing of all.

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**Reviews and constructive criticism are always appreciated :)**


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